New Hampshire and the Kancamagus Highway

At the end of September when Trevor and I wanted to do a mini New England road trip, I asked my coworkers what they recommended we could do in such a short period of time. One of them mentioned the Kancamagus highway in New Hampshire and showed me some pictures. After doing some research, I learned that the Kancamagus highway goes through the White Mountains in New Hampshire and connects the towns Lincoln and Conway. It is also one of the most famous roadways in America for tourists. People travel from all over the world to drive this highway in the fall to see the changing leaves.

The leaves weren't changing in Massachusetts at the time, but in the mountains they were. We decided to make the trip! From our apartment to the beginning of the highway it only took about two hours to get there. One of the best parts about New England is how close all the states are together and how quickly you can get places.

The White Mountains were huge compared to the other Appalachians, and the towns that were nestled in the mountains reminded me of the mountain towns in Colorado. We started the highway in Lincoln, New Hampshire and immediately were greeted with colorful changing leaves. The weather was chilly, in the 40s-low 50s, and that was a breath of fresh air compared to the 80 degree weather that was still around in Massachusetts. We drove through the mountains on the highway and stopped at a couple places where there were lakes, waterfalls, and scenic overlooks. We saw many tourists there at the time from all over the world. We spotted a lot of people from Japan. We were surprised that so many people would come to New Hampshire just to see the leaves change.

We ended our drive in Conway, NH and we stayed in a small mom and pop motel. It was cozy. The weather outside was freezing, but we enjoyed it. Conway was another small mountain town that was home to an L.L. Bean outlet. All of the buildings were built like lodges, including McDonalds and Walmart. Trevor and I found a little pizza shop and ordered strombolis, then we watched TV and hung out in our little motel room the rest of the night. Fun fact, I'm pretty sure people from PA are the only ones that call strombolis, strombolis. From traveling around the country, everywhere else just calls them calzones which was interesting to me. If Trevor and I ever wanted a stromboli like one from home, we always have to order a calzone and tell them exactly what we want in it: ham, mozzarella, & pepperoni.

If you ever want to head to the New England area for fall foliage or the mountains, I highly recommend the White Mountains. There are ski resorts there in the winter and it has such a quaint little mountain town feel.